The grants have been awarded to Professor Lynn Chenoweth, Dr Karen Charlton, Associate Professor Kate Laver, Dr Joan Ostaszkiewicz and Dr Lily Xiao.

From a total funding pool of $1.8 million, each of the selected projects will undertake trials and studies to produce evidence interventions, promote practice change and inform policy.

These grants are highly competitive and sought after in the research sector, and provide vital insights into reducing dementia risk, improving accurate and timely diagnoses and establishing treatment and care options for people who live with dementia.

In making this announcement, DCRC Directors, Professors Kaarin Anstey, Elizabeth Beattie and Henry Brodaty congratulate the recipients on their outstanding proposals and thank all applicants.

Dr Karen Charlton’s world-first, placebo controlled, randomised clinical trial will assess whether practical dietary recommendations can prevent dementia in high-risk individuals.

“There is growing evidence that some plant foods are beneficial for brain health, particularly those that are deep-red and purple-blue in colour due to the presence of anthocyanins (a type of flavonoid), said Dr Charlton.

“We want to research whether dietary anthocyanins, provided either by a commercially available Australian fruit, the Queen Garnet Plum, or through commonly available foods (“the purple diet”) for 6 months can delay cognitive decline in persons diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).”

“The ‘purple diet” includes anthocyanin-rich foods that are convenient, tasty and affordable (eg. berries, cherries, plums, red cabbage, red onions, eggplant, etc.).”

“Interventions to prevent further decline in people diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) are essential as approximately 50% of this group will progress to Alzheimer’s Disease within 4 years from diagnosis.”

“This research study will enable us to better understand the role of diet in preventing further cognitive decline in people at high risk of dementia using foods that have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and neuroprotective properties in order to develop practical and achievable dietary advice for better brain health.”

Professor Karen Charlton is a leading research dietitian and registered public health nutritionist based in the School of Medicine at the University of Wollongong (UOW) and an affiliated research fellow at the Illawarra Health and Medical Research She will lead a multidisciplinary team of researchers from UOW, NeuRA and UNSW that bring skills in nutrition and dietetics, neuropsychology, geriatrics, neuroscience, biostatistics and social marketing.

“People living with dementia can have particularly difficult experiences, including agitation, delirium and falls, in busy and unfamiliar hospital environments and experiences are worsened by care staff’s inability to engage therapeutically during care,” said Professor Lynn Chenoweth.

“Our project will address these issues by building capacity among healthcare staff to implement person-centred care, therapy and treatment in sub-acute care.”

“By adjusting policy and practice environments, through staff education and support, stakeholder ownership of change, ongoing consultation with stakeholders and responsive adaptation of project plans/procedures we can institute essential change.

Lynn Chenoweth is the Professor of Nursing, Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney. She is Adjunct Professor, School of Nursing, the University of Notre Dame Australia and School of Nursing, Macau, China.

Up to 38% of people with a diagnosis of dementia are incontinent of urine and up to 27% have faecal incontinence. These rates increase significantly for people with dementia residing in aged care homes, where up to 90% need help to maintain continence or to manage incontinence.

“Our research will help carers of people living with dementia and incontinence to cope with the physical, psychological and psychosocial aspects of incontinence, to optimise safety, respect and dignity for both carers and people living with dementia,” said Dr Joan Ostasziewicz.

“Incontinence is a sensitive and often taboo topic. People living with dementia are at risk of violations to their personal dignity during continence care interactions, especially if they require care in a hospital or aged care home.”

“Incontinence and dementia are the top two contributing factors to the decision to seek formal care in an aged care home but incontinence is no less challenging to manage in this setting.”

“The highly personal and sensitive nature of incontinence makes the task of caring for anyone with incontinence challenging, particularly if the person does not understand or appreciate the nature of the care.”

Dr Joan Ostaszkiewicz is a Registered Nurse with clinical and academic expertise in gerontological nursing education and research. She specialises in the management of incontinence in frail older adults. She is the Director of Aged Care Research at the National Ageing Research Institute.

Professor Lily Xiao’s research project aims to strengthen partnerships with carers through innovative delivery of an Australian iSupport for Dementia program.

“Informal carers are the cornerstone of helping people with dementia remain at home for as long as possible. However, most are less prepared for their role than professional carers,” said Professor Xiao.

“The World Health Organization has developed iSupport for Dementia, a comprehensive online dementia education and skill training program for informal carers and we will work with carers, hospital memory clinics and community aged care providers to implement the Australian iSupport program.”

“We want to determine the impact of the program on the quality of life of those living with dementia and their carers and the cost-effectiveness of the program. We expect that the program will strengthen partnerships between informal carers and dementia care service providers. We also expect that the program will improve reach to carers in rural and remote areas and to carers of working age.”

“The ultimate goal of this research is to provide multilingual iSupport programs for carers from culturally and linguistically diverse communities and therefore improve quality of life for people living with dementia and their carers in the community.”

Dr Lily Xiao is a Professor of Nursing in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences at Flinders University, South Australia. She is a key contributor to the World Health Organization iSupport for Dementia and has led a team to adapt the iSupport content to the Australian socio-cultural context in a small pilot study.

“Receiving a diagnosis of dementia is a life changing event which can trigger a variety of reactions,” said Associate Professor Kate Laver, research fellow at the Flinders Health & Medical Research Institute.

“For some, it is relief as the diagnosis helps make sense of symptoms. For many it will be a sense of loss and grief. Regardless, it is a time when people re-appraise their lifestyle and plan for the years ahead.”

“Current practice does not support people after receiving a diagnosis of dementia. People with dementia have reported that post diagnostic supports which establish hope and promote how to live well with a diagnosis of dementia are critical.”

We want to test a ‘Take Charge’ intervention in which we intervene shortly after a diagnosis of dementia and promote hope, independence, and quality of life with the ultimate goal of keeping the person at home and engaged in the community for longer. This approach is innovative and could change the current usual trajectory of decline after diagnosis.”

Funded by the Australian government, the DCRC’s primary research foci within the broader topic of dementia research are prevention, assessment and diagnosis, intervention and treatment, living with dementia and care, with a particular investment in translation of knowledge into care and practice.

To get in touch with any of the grant recipients, please contact Alex McTavish, Media Communications Coordinator at DCRC: alex.mctavish@qut.edu.au or 0406 858 882.

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Each of these pilot projects will receive $75,000 to conduct ground-breaking dementia research.

The DCRC pilot grants have been awarded to Dr Andrew Stafford, Dr Nadeeka Dissanayaka, Dr Erin Conway, Dr Angel Lee, Dr Luise Lago and Dr Samantha Loi.

These grants are highly competitive and sought after in the research sector, and provide vital insights into reducing dementia risk, improving accurate and timely diagnoses and establishing treatment and care options for people who live with dementia.

In making this announcement, DCRC Directors, Professors Kaarin Anstey, Elizabeth Beattie and Henry Brodaty congratulate the recipients on their outstanding proposals and thank all applicants.

Dr Andrew Stafford is a senior lecturer at Curtin Medical School with experience working in community pharmacy and aged care. His research explores ways to optimise medication use, particularly in older people, with a focus on quality of life and patient-centred care.

“For many people who live with dementia, managing their daily medicines is a complex and difficult task. Incorrect use of medicines can have unintended consequences that range from minor symptoms to serious events that require hospitalisation,” said Dr Stafford.

“Every year, 250 000 Australians are hospitalised due to problems with their medicines, and a disproportionate number of these people are living with dementia.”

“Our project, Dementia MedsChecks will develop an in-pharmacy service to meet the specific needs of people living with dementia (and their family carers if appropriate), so that any medicine-related issues can be identified and overcome in collaboration with the person’s doctor.”

The project will improve medicine safety for Australians living with dementia.

Dr Angel Lee is a Research Fellow in the RAIL (Rehabilitation, Ageing and Independent Living) research centre and the School of Primary and Allied Health Care of Monash University.

“Over 90,000 older Australians who receive home support have cognitive impairment associated with dementia or other conditions. Amongst his population we see lower levels of physical activity and people fall 50% more frequently than similar older adults who do not use home support,” said Dr Lee.

“Low physical activity level and falls can have a dramatic negative impact on their independence, mobility, and quality of life but by capitalising on an existing system and workforce, this research aims to co-design a physical activity program with consumers, and training support workers to deliver exercise to older people with dementia.”

“This research will improve physical activity, reduce risk factors of falls and enhance health outcomes for home care clients with dementia.”

Anxiety accelerates cognitive decline and contributes to an overall reduction in quality of life. The prevalence of anxiety is five times higher in people living with dementia compared to older people in general.

“As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, lockdowns and continuous social isolation, an increase in anxiety has been observed in people living with dementia, in particularly those living in aged care, but there are inadequate anxiety treatment options available for people with dementia,” said Dr Nadeeka Dissanayaka.

“Our project will develop and pilot test a robust, and accessible telehealth option to deliver a new Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (Tele-CBT) program to reduce anxiety in people living with dementia.

“The ultimate goal is to develop and implement a robust, widely accessible and tailored psychotherapy program delivered via telehealth to reduce anxiety in people living with dementia.”

Dr Nadeeka Dissanayaka is a NHMRC Boosting Dementia Research leadership fellow, director of the Dementia & Neuro Mental Health Research Unit at the University of Queensland and co-chair of DCRC’s Anxiety & Depression in Dementia Research (ADDR Network).

Dr Samantha Loi is a neuropsychiatrist and senior research fellow at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and University of Melbourne who specialises in the assessment, treatment and management of people with neuropsychiatric conditions, including people living with younger-onset dementia such as Alzheimer’s disease, frontotemporal dementia and Huntington’s disease.

“Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) or non-cognitive symptoms related to dementia include symptoms such as anxiety, depression, apathy and irritability, and for people with younger-onset dementia (ie. symptoms onset at or below the age of 65), these are often more difficult to manage than the cognitive symptoms themselves.”
“These symptoms have been linked with worse disease outcomes, higher rates of hospitalisation, and greater distress and burden in family caregivers.”

“Medications as treatments of these symptoms often cause side effects and may not always decrease their frequency and severity. For this reason, we propose a novel non-pharmacological approach targeting these symptoms utilising technology.”

“We will design, develop and pilot a mobile application-based psychological intervention that combines elements of two treatment approaches: cognitive training – addressing deficits such as memory and attention, and meta-cognitive training – attitudes and beliefs. Both of these have been shown to produce benefits in people with cognitive and psychological symptoms and we believe that by combining both strategies can reduce the frequency and severity of NPS, and thus the associated caregiver burden.”

Dr Erin Conway’s pilot project explores social connection and communication and its fundamental role in pursuit of a meaningful life.

“Our ability to communicate is vital to social connection. Many people with dementia will experience increasing difficulty with communication over time – both with talking and understanding others,” said Dr Conway.
“For people with dementia, reablement helps them to maintain their relationships and their access to community and social connection but reablement of communication function is not currently well understood or prioritised, particularly in aged care.”

This project works with people living with dementia, their families, speech pathologists and other health professionals to find out about the importance each place on communication, their priorities for communication reablement therapy, and experiences accessing therapy.

“We will use this information to develop recommendations for speech pathologists about what people with dementia want from communication reablement, support meaningful communication and social engagement and improve access to speech pathology services for people with dementia.”

Dr Erin Conway is a Speech Pathologist and a Senior Lecturer in Speech Pathology at the Australian Catholic University, Brisbane. She is also the Coordinator for the Speech Pathology Course and the Assistant Deputy Head of School for the School of Allied Health, Queensland Campus.

Dr Luise Lago is Senior Research Fellow (Applied Statistics), from the University of Wollongong and her research aims to improve access to community and non-admitted health care services for people living with dementia.

“People living with dementia experience considerable challenges in meeting their health care needs. The healthcare system can be difficult to understand, there can long waits for community and non-admitted services, and the benefits of this care may not be well understood by the person or their carer.”

“Community and non-admitted care are critical for keeping people healthy and out of hospital, and linking acute and primary care. For people to live well with dementia, they need to be able to access timely and appropriate care to help them manage dementia symptoms and other health conditions which can cause unplanned hospital visits.”

Funded by the Australian government, the DCRC’s primary research foci within the broader topic of dementia research are prevention, assessment and diagnosis, intervention and treatment, living with dementia and care, with a particular investment in translation of knowledge into care and practice.

To get in touch with any of the grant recipients, please contact Alex McTavish, Media Communications Coordinator at DCRC: alex.mctavish@qut.edu.au or 0406 858 882.

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The Dementia Centre for Research Collaboration (DCRC) is pleased to announce the successful applicants in the latest round of DCRC pilot grants.

Seven pilot projects will receive $75,000 each to conduct ground-breaking dementia research. Five of the seven projects are co-funded in partnership with the Dementia Australia Research Foundation.

The seven DCRC pilot grants have been awarded to Dr Linda Steele, Dr Deborah Brooks, Dr Leander Mitchell, Dr Kirsten Moore, Dr Suraj Samtani, Dr Sarah Wallace and Dr Melinda Jackson.

These grants are highly competitive and sought after in the research sector, and provide vital insights into reducing dementia risk, improving accurate and timely diagnoses and establishing treatment and care options for people who live with dementia.

In making this announcement, DCRC Directors, Professors Kaarin Anstey, Elizabeth Beattie and Henry Brodaty congratulate the recipients on their outstanding proposals and thank all applicants.

“Neglect and abuse of people living with dementia is a systemic problem in residential aged care,” said Dr Linda Steele, senior lecturer at the University of Technology Sydney.

“Those affected have been unable to access justice, healing and closure through the courts and it inflicts significant harm on survivors, care partners and the broader dementia community.”

“My research project explores the need to redress the wrongs of past neglect and abuse beyond individual court action.

“For example, through compensation and psychosocial support, memorials, national apologies and community education. This action can then facilitate justice, healing and enhanced well-being for survivors, as well as protections for future aged care and legal systems.”

Dr Deborah Brooks is a Project Coordinator at the Dementia Centre for Research Collaboration, Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane and her research explores the Residential Care Transition Module (RCTM).

“Many people with dementia eventually move into residential care but making this decision and coping with admission processes can be distressing. Formal supports to help families cope during this transition are lacking, so this study aims to test delivery of a telephone/video counselling intervention to reduce stress for family carers.”

The RCTM consists of six telephone or video-link counselling sessions delivered to family carers over 12 weeks by a trained health or social care professional. It includes education about dementia and residential care facilities, dementia-specific grief counselling, stress reduction techniques, and referral to support networks.

Dr Leander Mitchell from The University of Queensland will use the $75,000 funding to develop tools to measure depression and anxiety in people living with dementia in the Torres Strait.

“Rates of dementia are almost three times higher in Torres Strait communities than the wider population and rates of depression and anxiety are also higher in First Nations populations,” Dr Mitchell said.

“Thinking and memory problems can be present in all of these conditions but without accurate information, it can be difficult to work out whether symptoms are due to dementia or a psychological disorder.

“These tools have to be acceptable to Torres Strait people and also measure depression and anxiety accurately – doctors and health workers can then use these tools when assessing someone with thinking and memory problems to help them work out if the person has dementia or a psychological disorder and therefore what treatment is needed.”

Dr Kirsten Moore is a senior research fellow in the Melbourne Ageing Research Collaboration at the National Ageing Research Institute. Dr Moore’s study explores the burden, chronic stress and often grief that comes with caring for a family member or friend living with dementia.

“While caring for someone living with dementia is often portrayed negatively, with physical and mental health impacts associated with caring, this is not the full picture. This study will develop a resource that aims to provide a more balanced view of the experience of caring.

“We will examine the creative ways of managing daily stressors and challenges that will go some way toward countering overly negative portrayals of caring for someone living with dementia.”

Dr Suraj Samtani is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA) and his project focuses on working together with people living with cognitive impairments and their care partners to write a social skills training manual specifically designed for older adults living with dementia.

“Many older adults with cognitive impairment have difficulties with recognising emotions and reacting in a socially appropriate way. Most treatments developed for dementia focus on improving memory and language. So far, there is no treatment that helps people recover or maintain social skills as their cognitive abilities decline.

“My hope is that people living with cognitive impairments can reconnect with others and experience the joy of socialising once again. One person living with dementia said to me: “I worry that other people will laugh at me and say I don’t say things that make sense or I repeat myself.”

Dr Melinda Jackson is a Senior Lecturer and Sleep Psychologist at the Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University and her project examines sleep disturbance in both the care giver and the person living with dementia.

“Poor sleep is experienced by two thirds of caregivers and is associated with depression and lower quality of life.

“Over 200,000 Australians provide informal assistance and caregiving to people with dementia. Improving sleep and mood of caregivers is an important step towards increasing their overall quality of life and improving their experience with caring for the person with dementia.”

“The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety has exposed shocking stories of poor care, abuse, and neglect,” said Dr Sarah Wallace, speech pathologist and NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow at The University of Queensland.

“This is very concerning for people with dementia, as they are at greater risk of abuse and may also have trouble communicating that something is wrong.

“More than half of people who receive aged care services have dementia, so we need to find the best ways to help people with dementia to provide feedback, make complaints, and have conversations about their care.

My project will work in partnership with people with dementia, their families, carers and health professionals to design a set of free resources to engage in important conversations about their care and support.”

Funded by the Australian government, the DCRC’s primary research foci within the broader topic of dementia research are prevention, assessment and diagnosis, intervention and treatment, living with dementia and care, with a particular investment in translation of knowledge into care and practice.

The DCRC gratefully acknowledge the assistance of the Dementia Australia Research Foundation Scientific Panel in reviewing the applications and awarding the grants. Further information about the Foundation including previous grant rounds and outcomes can be found at: https://www.dementia.org.au/research.

To get in touch with any of the grant recipients, please contact Alex McTavish, Media Communications Coordinator at DCRC: alex.mctavish@qut.edu.au or 0406 858 882.

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We believe that these individuals may in fact have undiagnosed Autism Spectrum Disorder. Little is known about cognition in people with autism spectrum disorder as they get older.

Incorrect diagnoses between these two very different brain conditions have major implications for their management, care and support for the diagnosed individuals and their families. This research is a novel collaboration between experts in the fields of dementia and autism spectrum disorders and consumer associations.

The aims of this project are to recruit individuals diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia and autism spectrum disorder and to systematically compare their behaviour, thinking abilities (memory, attention, language, executive function), as well as their brain integrity with MRI over time. Findings from this research will provide the scientific framework to develop care program that are relevant and specific to each disorder.

This research will contribute to a better understanding of the many presentations of dementia syndromes and the overlap with psychiatric brain disorders in older adults. In doing so, this research will maximise the quality of life of individuals diagnosed with these disorders by providing relevant care and support programs.

The Team

Olivier Piguet is an NHMRC Senior Research Fellow and Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology at the University of Sydney.

A registered clinical neuropsychologist with over 20 years experience in the field of dementia, he is the director of FRONTIER, the frontotemporal dementia research group at the Brain & Mind Centre, the University of Sydney.

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In making this announcement, DCRC Directors, Professors Kaarin Anstey, Elizabeth Beattie and Henry Brodaty congratulate the recipients on their outstanding research proposals and thank all applicants.

Professor Susan Kurrle, Southern New South Wales Local Health District – Golden Angels spreading their wings: Translating a volunteer dementia and delirium program from hospitals to residential care.

This project aims to improve quality of care for aged care residents with dementia and/or delirium by adapting an evidence-based hospital program that trains volunteers in person-centred care techniques.

Dr Louise Mewton, University of New South Wales – Healthier drinking choices and cognitive decline in older risky drinkers.

This project will address a gap in the literature on alcohol use as a target for dementia prevention. It aims to determine whether an online intervention adapted for older adults can slow cognitive decline and reduce risky alcohol consumption in older risky drinkers.

Professor Olivier Piguet, University of Sydney – Frontotemporal dementia or autism spectrum disorder? Refining the diagnosis of emerging social impairments in older adults.

This project aims to improve diagnosis in rare forms of dementia and differentiate other brain conditions, which will enable appropriate interventions and support services, improving the quality of life of individuals diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia or with autism

The DCRC gratefully acknowledge the assistance of the Dementia Australia Research Foundation (DARF) Scientific Panel in reviewing the applications and awarding the grants.

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